The present invention relates to speakers and pertains particularly to an improved hemispherically directed speaker system.
The typical prior art reproduction or sound reproduction system typically comprises two housings or cabinets, usually containing multiple speakers located a distance apart at one end of a listening room. This arrangement is very directional and requires the listener to be positioned at a proper distance from the arrangement along a line normal to a base line through the two cabinets in order for a balanced sound.
A variation of this arrangement includes four speakers or cabinets positioned at the four corners of the room to provide what is commonly referred to as "surround sound". Again, this requires that the listener be at a particular location within the room for optimal balanced sound. Attempts to overcome some of these problems have involved the provision of special speaker arrangements positioned for reflecting the sound off of walls of the room towards the listener. These various arrangements, however, provide for improvement in quality of the sound at specific locations within the room, but with deterioration or dead spaces at other areas within the room.
Recent developments providing a divergent or omnidirectional speaker system have been proposed by Glassco, U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,057 granted Jun. 16, 1987, and Smith U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,689 granted Jan. 2, 1990, assigned to the Assignee hereof. These patents disclose an omnidirectional speaker system wherein a plurality of speakers are mounted in a housing and arranged to direct sound omnidirectionally outwardly from a common point centrally of the housing. That system was a considerable improvement over systems that existed at the time. It provides greatly improved sound reproduction for larger rooms and areas such as concert halls, auditoriums and arenas. Among the major advantages is that it reduced and substantially eliminated the highly directional effect of conventional speakers. It also substantially eliminated the problem of dead spots and other nuisances of conventional systems.
While these are a considerable improvement over the prior art existing at the time, they have draw-backs for certain installations. For example, there are many situations where omnidirectional speakers cannot be conveniently placed at the center of a room. This is particularly a problem for small rooms, lounges and the like. It is also desirable in some instances for the speaker system to be mounted on the musical instrument.
While smaller versions of the above system can be used in smaller buildings such as homes and offices, there is a need for a speaker system that can accommodate in smaller settings and on musical instruments for example.